Petra Silfverskiold

Tickets have gone on sale for the hotly-anticipated Stadium of Light concert of singing sensation Rihanna.

The city is preparing to host the Bajan musicia,n who is the top-selling digital artist of all time, when she plays the stadium on June 18 as part of the UK leg of her ANTI World Tour.

The Stadium of Light box office early on Thursday morning.

Tickets went on sale when the stadium's box office opened at 9am today.

However, hardcore fans were able to queue from 6am to ensure they secured the coveted tickets.

Sandra Shipley, 48, from Lakeside Village and her daughter Nikki, 20, from Farringdon were first in line.

Careworker Nikki had arrived from a 12-hour late shift at work to buy tickets for herself and her boyfriend Karl Jenkinson, 27, and her mother had come along to keep her company.

The Stadium of Light box office on Thursday morning.

"It's him that want the tickets, but I do like her music," Nikki said. "She has some good songs. I mainly like her old songs from years ago when she was really young."

Sandra said: "We thought the queue would be all the way along the carpark. Last year people were camping out, so we were quite surprised there we were first."

Nikki added: "I'd just come off a 12-hour shift at 8pm and I've been up since 5am, so I'm quite tired."

Despite the rather sparse turnout at the box office this morning, a club spokesman said tickets sales had been "significant", with a pre-sale event on Wednesday seeing "unprecedented demand" from ticket agents.

Remaining general admission tickets can purchase in-person from the Stadium of Light ticket office, with pitch standing and unreserved Tier 1 seating, along with limited Golden Circle tickets. These are also available from approved ticket agencies, along with reserved seating tickets.

Tickets cannot be purchased via SAFC’s telephone hotline or through the club’s website.

SAFC’s commercial director, Gary Hutchinson, said: “There is a huge amount of excitement and interest around this concert, which has been reflected in the unprecedented demand for tickets during the pre-sale period.

“With the remaining tickets now on sale, we would advise fans to book their tickets as soon as they can as this is set to be a must-see show.”

Supporting Rihanna at the Stadium of Light will be American rapper Big Sean and The Weeknd, whose album Beauty Behind The Madness reached number 1 in the UK album charts and was the most streamed album of the year on Spotify, with 60 million listeners.

HOW TO BUY

Stadium of Light sales information:

The Stadium of Light will offer General Admission (standing/Tier 1 unreserved seating) tickets only, priced at £55 and a limited number of Gold Circle tickets at £75. All sales are subject to a £4 booking fee per ticket (unless payment is made in cash). Tickets cannot be purchased from SAFC by telephone or online, tickets are available from the stadium’s box office to in-person purchasers only.

Please note £1 per ticket will be added onto the booking fee, this fee will be donated to the Clara Lionel Foundation.